By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Some Members of Parliament (MPs) could not hold on for the House to begin the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) presented by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday, 8th March 2023.
MPs immediately after the presentation by President Akufo-Addo took to themedia space to express their opinions about the 2023 SONA, even though Parliament is billed to begin its debate of the 2023 SONA today Thursday, March 9, 2023.
For instance, the MP for Nhyiaeso constituency in the Ashanti region and Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industries, Dr. Stephen Amoah, reacting to the presentation said President Akufo-Addo in his delivery demonstrated empathy and humility.
According to him, the President’s empathy and humility signaled Parliament to unite and work together to support the country’s economic recovery target.
Speaking to the media, Dr. Amoah, explained further that “the President demonstrated empathy because it was not something that he was like ‘oh Ghana I’ve done everything, why are you complaining?’ no, he was very humble. It was indicative of the fact that he combined humility and respect and empathy which was the first thing. And it was a sign to unify the house. I think the first time that the heckling that I’ve been always witnessing in my opinion was highly mitigated or minimized.”
Even though the President’s address has been described by some Minority MPs as ‘falsehood’ and ‘laughable’, Dr. Amoah, however, insisted the President was being honest.
“The President was very honest; he didn’t say Ghana was heaven. … and he went further to even affirm that this was global, by stating what the IMF boss said that Ghana was doing well till Covid and Russia came, which is a fact you can argue and debate. There could have been other domestic factors but that is a fact,” he reiterated.
On his part, MP for Bolgatanga Central, Mr. Isaac Adongo, was of the view that President Akufo-Addo’s 2023 State of the Nation Address demonstrated that the President was completely out of touch with Ghana’s reality.
“I saw a President who is not with us, I saw a President who lives in a completely different world, and I saw a President who for the first time looked more humbling than I’ve ever seen him address the House because the reality is not looking well and it’s not reflecting well on the government. So despite all the flowery language, they knew that it’s the reality that as a country we’re not in the right place and we’re in a challenging place” he noted.
The Bolgatanga Central Lawmaker stated that the government, and by extension the country, is at its lowest ebb hence the President’s demure demeanor.
“In managing an economy, and then managing a country, the biggest fear, all the fears that anybody would have in running an economy, we’ve met them. The first thing you do in running an economy is that your sovereignty is your most important asset that defines the confidence and the trust of people both locally and internationally such that they can give you their money and go to sleep and believe that they will have their money.
“When a country gets to a point where it simply cannot pay and has to take the ‘dishonourable’ decision to own up and say ‘look, we have mismanaged ourselves and we just cannot pay you, and that our sovereignty which is basically our promise and our integrity which we gave you is worth nothing. And that you are going to lose your money, that is the lowest ebb that any government will ever get to and we’re there so we can’t dig further,” Mr. Adongo maintained.
